A Sliding Mode Controller for Semi-Active Suspension Systems

This paper presents a new sliding mode controller based on the theory of model following control for semi-active suspension systems with Magnetorheological (MR) dampers which have undesirable nonlinear properties. In the proposed controller, a desired semi-active suspension system is chosen as the reference model to be followed, and the control low is determined so that an asymptotically stable sliding mode will occur in the error dynamics between the plant and the reference model states. The advantages of the proposed controller are : (1) measurement of the damping force is not required, (2) the reference model specifies the desired performance considering the passivity constraint of the damper, (3) it is highly possible to maintain the sliding mode and achieve high robustness against the nonlinear properties of the damper. Numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the controller